1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stationary type imaging apparatus for imaging the indoor or outdoor state from a fixed position.
This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application 2004-006135, filed on Jan. 13, 2004, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of Related Art
A stationary type imaging apparatus, mounted at a preset position, such as on a ceiling or a wall in a room or an outer wall outside the building for imaging the indoor or outdoor state, has an imaging unit enclosed in a casing, mounted on the ceiling or wall, and is mounted on a ceiling or on an upper part of the inner wall of a church or a concert hall, for imaging the state of the Mass in a church or a music concert in a concert hall from an upper point towards an oblique lower area. In such imaging apparatus, in distinction from a monitor imaging device for imaging a preset range of an outdoor scene for crime prevention purposes, the entire indoor space of a broad range needs to be imaged to a high image quality, while the image size of the object imaged needs to be enlarged or contracted as the object is imaged. Thus, there is provided, in a casing of an imaging apparatus, housing an imaging device, a panning mechanism and a tilt mechanism for causing rotation of the imaging unit in the panning direction and in the tilt direction with respect to the mounting surface of the imaging apparatus, respectively, so as to provide for a broad-range imaging. The imaging device of the imaging apparatus is also provided with a zooming mechanism for adjusting the imaging size of the object as the object is imaged.
In such imaging apparatus, a variety of electrical circuits, such as control circuits for the panning mechanism and the tilt mechanism, power supply circuit or signal processing circuit for imaging signals, are formed on one wiring board. Thus, with the imaging apparatus, the wiring board is increased in size, and the casing in which to install the wiring board is also increased in size, thus increasing the weight of the overall apparatus. If the imaging apparatus, mostly installed on a ceiling or an upper wall part in a room, is increased in weight, it is necessary to take reinforcing measures to prevent its descent, or otherwise it becomes difficult to perform the installing operation. Moreover, the imaging apparatus needs to be reduced in size or rendered less obtrusive in order not to detract from the appearance of the environment in which to mount the apparatus.
[Patent Publication 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2000-358172